Cup and saucer commemorating the death of Princess Charlotte

Transfer-printed porcelain tea cup and saucer
Commemorating the death of Princess Charlotte Augusta of Wales
Unknown maker (possibly Staffordshire or Liverpool)
English, circa 1817

Dimensions: Cup 5.3 cm high, 8.3 cm diameter; Saucer 2.8 cm high, 14 cm diameter 

Decorated with puce lustre bands, black transfer prints to the centre of the saucer and the front of the cup depicting Britannia mourning at a tomb with the motto "TO THE MEMORY OF PRINCESS CHARLOTTE", a globe and weeping angels.

Princess Charlotte was the only child of George, the Prince Regent and Caroline, Princess of Wales and grand-daughter of George III. She was thus in direct succession to the throne and, had she lived, would have taken the throne in place of Queen Victoria. In 1816 she married Prince Leopold of Saxe-Coburg and the happy couple were soon expecting an eagerly anticipated child. She tragically died in childbirth, along with a stillborn son, on 5 November 1817, prompting a huge outpouring of public grief.

An identical cup and saucer can be found on display in the V&A, Ceramics, Room 139, The Curtain Foundation Gallery, Case 13, Shelf 1 (V&A Musem Number C.19&A-1970 (Given by Mrs Ethel Q. Weller))

Fine condition. Some firing speckles. Slight rubbing to the lustre bands. Very minor chip to the footrim of the saucer (probably present since manufacture). Both cup and saucer have a healthy 'ring'.